2026 theme Hidden In Plain Sight could explore crime fiction, memoirs, journalism

The theme for Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) 2026 is Hidden In Plain Sight, through which poet and festival director Yong Shu Hoong wants to explore crime fiction, medical writing and possibly even journalism.

- Clement Yong

Fresh from successfully navigating the pressures of the SG60 milestone year, Yong tells The Straits Times that he now has greater freedom to keep expanding notions of writing and court new audiences.

With no need to peg discussions to an anniversary, Hidden In Plain Sight will be more directly topical. The edition scheduled for Nov 13 to 22, 2026, is particularly suited for “the Donald Trump era, fake news and deep fakes”.

Yong asks: “Is there an absolute truth? Or is truth basically about perspectives? Can truth be reconstructed?”

The remit could extend further: “It could also be books with hidden themes, hidden messages, books with a lot of metaphors. Also in terms of memoirs and biographies, how writers are able to trace their family history and the fact-finding involved.”

Yong’s debut festival in 2024 was generally characterised as more laid-back than predecessor Pooja Nansi’s.

He has been receiving lots of positive feedback that his 2025 iteration feels more “buzzy”, which he attributes to certain featured presenters.

American dark academia author R.F. Kuang’s book-signing session on Nov 8 created some chaos when volunteers were overwhelmed by the response.